Method and apparatus for knife and blade sharpening

Abstract: Both facets of a double faceted blade are simultaneously sharpened as the facets are moved across a first pair of planar abrasive coated surfaces crossing to form a vertex and to set at a total included angle nominally equal to the intended total included angle of the edge facet. A guide structure contacts and aligns the blade so that the centerline of the blade is positioned at or near the bisection of the included angle of the abrasive surfaces. The guide structure is one or more rotatable members.

Description: Background of the Invention Many of the wide variety of knife sharpeners that have been developed in the past fail to give truly sharp edges or even consistently good edges because of the lack of good angular control during the sharpening process. This is particularly true of V notch type sharpeners intended to sharpen both edge facets simultaneously. Manual means for sharpening in particular are unsatisfactory because existing V type sharpeners do not have an integral control of the angle but depend on the user to hold the blade "vertically" while sharpening. To develop a really sharp edge it is critically important that the blades pass over the abrasive surface stroke after stroke at the same precise angle. Even very small variations in the angle in successive strokes will prevent the formation of a truly sharp edge. The finest edges can be produced only if the angle is consistent stroke to stroke within 1/2 degree. That is of course impossible without a precise means to guide the blade. Even narrow slots commonly provided for-angle control do not work since blades are tapered and their thickness varies widely from the handle to the tip. Thus, where the blade is thinner along its length than the width of the slot by only a few thousandths of an inch there is inadequate angular control to develop a truly sharp edge. If one attempted to design the slot for tight conformity to the blade thickness at one point on the blade other parts of the blade would be too loose or they would be too thick to get into the slot. The prior art includes sharpeners such as illustrated in Figure 15 and Figure 16 wherein wheels of hardened metal, ceramic, or oxides are placed into an overlapping configuration forming a "V groove" through which the edge of a blade is passed in intimate contact with the wheels. This type sharpeners depends upon a scraping action at the edge of the disk to remove metal from blade and the disk is mounted on a shaft so that fresh "edges" can be exposed by rotating the disk after each sharpening. In time the edges of the disk become rounded and the sharpener is ineffective. They offer no angular control for the blade or at best a slot is provided as shown in Figure 15 which is substantially wider than any blade intended to be sharpened. Consequently the angular control is poor and the disk edges wear rapidly leading to a short useful life for the sharpener. Another V type sharpener is the common crock stick sharpener such as described in U.S. Patent No. 4,912,885 which forms a V shaped slot by using a pair of crossed ceramic rods. In this configuration the knife edge is pulled through the crotch formed by the two rods. Commonly the rods are made of abrasive material such as sintered aluminum oxide. The sharpening action is largely from the action of abrasives along a linear line on the rod in contact with each facet. The facets are not in contact with an area of abrasives but like the wheels only in contact with a line. Again there is no angular control and any rotational motion of the blade (deviation from vertical) or any tilting of the blade horizontally stroke to stroke will reduce substantially the chances of getting a sharp edge on the blade. U.S. Patent Nos. 1,894,579 and 1,909,743 describe a large V type sharpener that uses a series of flat individual rectangular abrasive bars to form a V slot but again there is no provision for angular control of the blade as it is pulled through the sharpener. Because this sharpener uses relatively soft abrading elements that wear readily losing their contour, the angle of the V must be changed periodically top expose an area of the bar with good geometry. This like other V sharpeners requires a skillful operator to hold the blade "vertical" - an impractical requirement. In all of these prior art sharpeners it is intended that both of the edge-forming facets be sharpened so the blade is passed through the slot. For this to occur the angular alignment of the blade centerline with the centerline of the V notch must be perfect stroke after stroke, as illustrated in Figure 17. Clearly that is not practical without some sort of guide. Any angular variation stroke to stroke will result in reforming each of the facets at a new and different angle. This tends to dull the edge or malform it rather than sharpen it to a keen edge. Those V notch sharpeners where the V is formed by the circumference of two wheels have the disadvantage that the facets are formed to the same shape as the wheel. As mentioned above this shaping results from scraping or solving metal off of the facets as they move across the sharp edges of the wheels. Because the wheels are circular, the facets become concave is curved to the same radius as the wheels. This creates a weak unsupported facet geometry behind the edge as shown in Figure 18. Straight facets as shown in Figure 17 are stronger and are to be preferred over the concave facets of Figure 18. Still better and stronger are convex facets (Gothic arch structure) as shown in Figure 19. Further information relating to the prior art can be found in FR-A-579701, which discloses a knife sharpener comprising two sheets of steel that have on their base a number of dents cut in said sheets, the surface of these sheets and the dents being lightly cut such as on a file with crossed ribs, wherein the sheets are bent for their fixation on a base, this bent portion containing one or more perforations allowing their fixation onto the base by means of rivets, screws, etc., allowing the easy removal and replacement of the sheets. The mounting of said sheets of steel gives the assembly a certain elasticity. Further, attention is drawn to US-A-1 622 197 which shows a knife sharpener having sharpener members with notches in their edges. The sharpener members are arranged in a V-shaped configuration and the portion between the notches on one member project into the notches on the other member, thereby creating an elongated uninterrupted sharpening surface. Summary of the Invention An object of this invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for the sharpening of knives and blades. A further object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangement of guides and abrasive surfaces to implement the improved method and apparatus in either manual or motor assisted configurations. It will be shown surprisingly that with the unique improvements discovered in this invention, notch sharpeners can create precision facets of any shape including the ideal Gothic arch construction of Figure 15. The geometry of the special abrasive coated pads disclosed in this invention are much more effective and efficient than the prior art designs both in terms of metal removal rate and precision of the facets created. Their special geometry and construction makes it possible and practical to obtain special facet contours to add increased and optimum support to the blade edge. Hence, it is possible to create an edge quality and shape far superior to any manual prior art sharpeners. This invention includes importantly unique blade guides consisting of one or more unique wheels or rollers to provide extremely accurate and non-scraping guides for the blades when sharpened in this improved V type sharpener configuration. It is a further object of the invention to provide unique single and multistage sharpeners that incorporate these improvements and can create unusually sharp edges. Preferably these sharpeners incorporate special diamond coated abrasive pads that unlike solid abrasives will maintain their geometry in use to produce such sharp edges. The present invention provides an apparatus as set forth in claims 1 and 10, respectively as well as a method as set forth in claim 18. Preferred embodiments of the invention are claimed in the dependent claims. The Drawings: Figure 1 is a left: side elevational view of a two-stage manual sharpener in accordance with this invention with the right side being a mirror image thereof; Figure 2 is a top plan view of the sharpener shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the sharpener shown in Figures 1-2; Figure 4 is a front elevational view of the sharpener shown in Figures 1-3; Figure 5 is a rear elevational view of the sharpener shown in Figures 1-4; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken through Figure 2 along the line 6-6; Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken through Figure 2 along the line 7-7; Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of the comb shape sharpening pads used in the sharpener of Figures 1-7, before the pads are assembled together; Figure 9 is a bottom plan view of the sharpening pads of Figure 8 in their assembled condition; Figure 10 is a fragmental enlarged cross-sectional view similar to Figure 7 showing knives of different sizes in the sharpening mode; Figure 11 illustrates a knife edge that has been sharpened by the two stage sharpener of this invention; Figure 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating the intermeshed sharpening pads retained in the sharpening head; Figure 13 is a view similar to Figure 12 of a modified form of sharpening pads; Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of this invention for the intermeshed sharpening pads; Figure 15 is an elevational view partly in section of a portion of a prior art sharpener; Figure 16 is a plan view of the prior art sharpener shown in Figure 15; and Figures 17-19 are elevational views of prior art sharpening techniques. Detailed Description One embodiment of this invention is illustrated by Figures 1-3 which is a two stage manual V-type sharpener. Each stage includes unique abrasive coated interdigitating members similar to those shown in Figures 8 and 9. These members have comb like structures that can interdigitate because their teeth are slightly smaller in width than the intervening slots or spaces into which the opposite mating teeth can fit. The members are arranged to cross at an angle equal to the desired total edge angle to be generated on the facets that terminate at and support the edge. Shaping of the facets is accomplished by the abrasive, preferably diamonds, coated on the surface of unique rigid members. The abrasive coated structure can be of any shape such as planer or convex, or the concave shape as shown in Figure 13. The concave structure will create a convex shape on the facets of a blade resulting in a superior strong Gothic arch shape to support and strengthen the edge being formed. In order to provide an accurate guide for blades stroke-after-stroke this invention includes one or more wheel-like guides which on their circumference can be thin disk like, or thicker with a cone shaped or otherwise contoured surface with a preferred geometry along its surface perpendicular to its radii. That geometry might for example be selected to hold blades essentially vertical although blades can vary substantially in design and especially in their thickness and the angle of their faces where they contact the wheel-like guides. It is less important that an individual blade be held in truly vertical position than it is to hold the blade at the same angle at any given point along its length on each successive strokes, stroke after stroke. The angle need not be the same angle at each point along the blade edges. If the blade axis is not absolutely "vertical" at a given point along its length, that is not truly bisecting the total included V angle created by the abrasive members, left and right, the facets will not have precisely the same angle relative to the axis of that blade. The blade would be exactly bisecting the total included angle of the V slot when its centerline is the line from the edge of the blade to the center of its thickness at the back of the blade is coincident with the bisection line of the V slot angle. Exact bisection is not essential to the precision of the edge being generated, but is important that these angular relationships be the same on each successive sharpening stroke. It was discovered that a two stage sharpener such as illustrated in Figures 1-3 can be designed so that the same wheel or wheels used to guide the blade in one sharpening slot can also guide the blade in the second slot as shown in Figure 10. The knife is positioned during sharpening so that it is continually pressed against a surface of the wheel as it is passed through each sharpening slot. The design of the abrasive coated members will ideally be such as to provide enhanced sharpening action along that portion of the facets distant from the edge where metal thickness between facets is the greatest and where it is desirable to remove metal most efficiently and completely during sharpening. Effective metal removal in that section ensures "relief" for the metal removing process occurring closer to the edge and at the edge itself. This adds to the quality and perfection of the edge being created. A knife that has not been sharpened before in this improved sharpener may have been sharpened first at the factory or by the owner at a larger angle requiring removal of substantial quantity of metal along the upper portion of the facet in order to bring the facets to the included angle of this improved sharpener. For this reason too it is important to have a maximum ability to remove metal from that portion of the facet. The design of the unique sharpening members in this invention provide these important advantages. While the principles described here apply directly to manual V shape sharpening configurations, the special abrasive coated rigid members disclosed here can be synchronously mechanically driven to move in a number of planer or linear directions thus enhancing the sharpening action. Spheres can be used like the wheels described here to provide a guide for the blade. Likewise a plane of spheres or wheels can be used as a knife guide with sharpeners including those that do not have the V slot configuration. The method and apparatus of this invention provide for the skilled or unskilled an improved and low cost means of creating a cutting edge of unusually sharpness and perfection, essentially free of microserrations of the type found on many blades sharpened by other means. One embodiment that incorporates certain of the improvements of this invention is illustrated in Figures 1-3. This is a manual two stage sharpener which can be steadied by its handle with one hand while a knife held in the other hand can be sharpened by pulling its blade successively through the V shaped slots in stages 1 and 2. The V slot in stage 1 will generally be a smaller angle than the V slot in stage 2. This creates a double bevel on the facet as illustrated in Figure 11. In this manner the second stage sharpens closer to the edge and in general a finer grit abrasive will be used in the second stage to refine and perfect the edge geometry. In a simpler configuration this sharpener need have only one sharpening stage. The second stage gives the advantage that a finer more perfect edge can be obtained because finer diamonds can be used and because prior sharpening in the first stage at a different - smaller angle - provides relief for the metal removal in the second stage. It has been demonstrated that better edge geometry can be obtained if the final sharpening occurs only very close to the edge and if it is unnecessary in that stage to remove excessive amounts of metal. By sharpening at a larger angle in stage 2, the resulting edge takes on a shape close to the Gothic arch as illustrated in Figure 19. It is possible also to provide a third stage to sharpen at an angle larger than in stage 1 or 2 and thereby create a triple bevel facet - a shape still closer to a perfect Gothic arch. The Gothic arch structure gives more support behind the edge and as a result the edge will stay sharp longer. It is possible to design the sharpener with a single stage (as later described with respect to Figure 14) where the V angle can be changed during the sharpening process. For example, one can start the sharpening with a smaller angle and through use of a mechanical linkage progressively increase that angle as the sharpening progresses. One might start with a total included angle for example of 40° and increase that angle to 50° total at the end of the sharpening. This would generate a near perfect Gothic arch. This inventor has demonstrated the critical importance of maintaining the blade at the same angle stroke after stroke during the sharpening process in order to create a perfect edge. It has been found that a suitably designed wheel, cone, cone section or contoured cylinder, properly positioned, can provide a uniquely simple means of maintaining a highly reproducible angle for a wide range of knives in single or two stage sharpeners. Figure 1 and Figure 10 show one or more truncated cones or shaped wheels that extends above and into the upper portion of the V slots formed by the abrasive coated members of a two stage sharpener. In use the blade when in each slot rests against this wheel or truncated cone as shown in Figure 10. The geometry of the wheel or cone-like rotatable member is adjusted to accommodate a variety of blades of different thickness, width and different included angle between the facets of the blade. Blades vary widely in their thickness, width, and total included angles of the facets. For example, pocket knives can be relatively narrow yet quite thick at their back (the thickest part of the blade); the angle of the facets of small pocket knives commonly can be 12°, some hunting knives are larger than 12°, while cooks knife can be as low as 3°. Other popular knives fall in the middle of that range. Knives differ also in the thickness of the blade immediately behind (adjacent to) the facets that create the edge. Fine cutlery may be only a few thousandths of an inch thick at that point while butcher blades or cleavers are commonly much thicker to provide extra strength. It has been found that wheels suitably contoured provide a unique and reproducible means for angular control for virtually all of the commonly available blades. Because some blade are very narrow it is desirable to provide a guide very close to the vertex of the V notch. Blades of small pocket knives may be only 0.2 inch wide; therefore it is desirable to provide support at least that close to the vertex. A chefs blade can have a width of 2 inches or more and it is generally thinner than a pocket knife immediately behind the facets. A very thin disk-like wheel located 0.2 inch above the vertex of the V can be designed so that a thick bladed pocket knife held against its diameter would align its axis perfectly vertical (that is bisecting the V angle). However, if a thin chefs blade is then placed against the diameter of such a thin disk so located, the axis of the chefs blade would be substantially off vertical. While as explained earlier, it is not essential that the blade axis be absolutely vertical during sharpening, it is desirable to be as vertical as possible in order- to minimize the time it takes to sharpen. Further an edge with equal-angled facets cuts straighter. It has been found that by using a cone shaped wheel as shown in Figure 10, it is possible to optimize the alignment of the axis of a variety of blades with the axis of the V slot. While desirable to align the blade near vertical the bisection of the total included angle formed by the V slot, it is critical that the angular alignment of the blade axis be extremely reproducible for the same knife - stroke after stroke. A truncated cone shaped wheel accomplishes this well. Figure 10 shows how the narrow blade in the left slot contacts such a cone near its base while the wider (longer in cross section) blade in the right slot contacts the cone at its top edge. It is clear from this Figure 10 that the axis of the wider blade would be further to the left and less vertical if that blade depended upon the base of the cone for its support. It has been demonstrated that one good geometry is a cone about 0.5 inches in height with a diameter at its base appropriately selected to vertically align narrow blades and where the facet of the cone is at an angle of about 2 degrees to its axis. If the V slots in a two stage sharpener are separated center line to center line by for example 0.7 inches, and the base of the cone is 0.2 inches above the vertex of the V slots, a good diameter for the base of the cone is on the order of 0.655 inches. This is mathematically the difference of the centerline to centerline distance, (.700") less the thickness + (0.45") of an average narrow pocket knife. Two degrees is a convenient slope for the cone as that angle approximates the median slope of the faces of a wide variety of popular knives. For a specialized class of knives such as hunting blades, the slope could be larger or the diameter altered to provide an even more accurate alignment of the blade axis. For some knife combinations a slightly concave surface could be superimposed on the conical geometry for a better compromise. The advantage of such wheels for control of the blade axis. For some knife combinations a slightly concave surface could be superimposed on the conical geometry for a better compromise. The advantage of such wheels for control of the blade angle during sharpening are dramatic. Without such angular control obtaining a truly good, sharp edge is a matter of chance and luck. With such guides, V slot sharpeners in particular quickly produce razor sharp edges. The wheels offer a major advantage over static guides in that the former will not scratch the faces of the blade as it rolls over the wheel circumference. Static guides, even made of plastic, will surprisingly in use burnish the faces of the blades because of the sliding friction and abrasion - albeit slight - especially where the burnishing on the blade is perpendicular to the direction of the final grind and polish lines on the faces of the blade. Preferably the wheels or cones described herein are made of plastic so as to minimize the opportunity for scratching the blade under all conditions. Static guides can be used to provide a similar angular control but for them to be as effective as the cone wheels they must have a sloped facet with the same contour and height as the cone face. A further enhancement of this invention includes a means to adjust and optimize for each blade the separation of the wheel or cone axis from the center line of the V notch. Simple mechanical means can be incorporated to permit this adjustment to be made manually for each blade being sharpened in each V notch. To reduce the number of stages and yet obtain a Gothic arch type contour on the blade such as shown in Figure 19, it is possible as mentioned earlier to steadily or intermittently vary the included angle of the V notch curing the sharpening process, using an increasingly larger angle as the sharpening progresses. This can be accomplished with a simple eccentric cam such as shown in Figure 14. By rotating the cam the distance between the abrasive coated members can be changed thereby altering the included angle between the abrasive surfaces. The multistage approach described here earlier has the advantage over the variable angle single stage that it allows one to change or reduce the grit size while using a larger angle in finishing the final edge. Another simpler means of generating a Gothic arch geometry at the edge is to use abrasive coated concave members as in Figure 13 instead of planar members of Figures 10 and 12. The abrasive coating, preferably diamonds, can be deposited with a coarse grit distant from the edge where more metal must be removed and with a finer grit at the edge where there is need for more precise abrasion and usually where there is less metal to be removed during sharpening. Unique and improved sharpening members have been developed by this inventor for V shaped notch sharpeners that are made as abrasive coated one-piece single comb-shaped rigid metal strips with notches and teeth. An example is shown in Figure 8 with teeth and notches designed to interdigitate as seen in Figure 9. In this configuration rigid metal strips are coated with diamond abrasives secured with electrodeposited metal. The diamonds are required only on the areas of the members where metal must be removed during sharpening. The teeth must have a width smaller than the corresponding slots of the mating member. The depth of the teeth and slots must be such than when mated they do not prevent or interfere with the formation of the V structure of the required angular geometry. Further to realize the full benefits of this invention, the distance of the base line of the teeth from the vertex of the interdigitating abrasive coated members would be less than the length of the facet being sharpened as suggested by Figure 9. For most blades a distance of about .020 inch is appropriate and ideally that distance will be less than .040 inch. It is desirable that there be sufficient spacing between the base line of the teeth of at least one member and the vertex to allow swarf (metal filings resulting from sharpening) to fall through that spacing and to thus avoid "loading up" the abrasive surface at or near the vertex where the greatest geometric and angular precision is required. However it is desirable that the base line of the teeth be close enough to the vertex that the unbroken areas of the member above the base line will be abrading the upper part of the facet of thicker blades with large facets. It is important to be able to remove metal rapidly in resharpening that part of the facets to restore a badly damages edge or to place a smaller angle on a blade previously sharpened at too large an angle by other means. The unique structure of these comb-like members allows highly precise angular and geometric control where they cross and where the fine edge must be created. The rigid supporting metal structure of Figure 9 can be manufactured with great planarity and it can in turn be supported by ultra flat molded structures or by other means. The use of diamonds as the abrasive is highly important because of their uniqueness in resisting wear and unique ability to hold the geometric shape of their surface even under prolonged use. It is important to emphasize that the comb-like diamond coated member sharpens through the abrasive action of the diamonds and unlike the prior art disk type V sharpeners that depend upon their sharp edges to remove metal, there novel members do not depend upon for metal removal. No other abrasive including materials as hard as alumina and cubic boron carbide can hold their shape as well as diamonds. Where there would be excessive wear over extended periods of time, provisions in sharpener design can be made for the rapid replacement of these members. The fact that the diamond abrasives exist on the members as a thin layer and because their resistance to wear is extraordinarily better compared to bulk abrasives such as used in all prior art V notch type sharpeners contribute critically to the ability of this improved structure to sharpen so well and to hold its geometry much longer than any prior art-V notch sharpeners. The fact that this design uses a large area of abrasives rather than just a line or edge contact for sharpening is also important. To accelerate the sharpening process with these improvements, it is possible to include mechanical means to oscillate the combs in a direction parallel to the axis of their teeth. Motion of the abrasives in this direction together with the manual motion of the knife through the slot will speed up the sharpening process. Syncronycal linear or orbital motions of the abrasive interdigitating members along other axis are also possible to accelerate the sharpening process. With concave combs as in Figure 13 or with convex combs linear motions parallel to the axis of the teeth in such members are not feasible but reciprocating motions parallel to the edge of the blade or oscillating motions about an axis are practical. Optimum results depend upon the use of diamond abrasives practice control of the geometry of the member teeth, and exacting control of the axis of the blade at all times as described herein. Parent application Serial No. 901,213 the details of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto discloses the use of rollers as guides for the blade of a cutting tool to guide the cutting edge facet into proper position with respect to the sharpening member. The present invention provides advantageous variations of those concepts. Figures 1-7 illustrate one embodiment of this invention wherein the sharpener is manually operated. It-is to be understood, however, that the concepts of this invention may be practiced with an electrically or motor operated sharpener. The combs, for example, may be electrically reciprocated. As shown in Figures 1-7 the sharpener 10 includes handle 12 which is part of a housing for holding the sharpening sections. The housing may be formed in any suitable manner such as by an upper housing 14 and a lower housing 16 joined together at seam or joint 18. The housing in the sharpening section would have a contoured panel 20 and would also include the lower housing 16 and upper housing 18. Upper housing 18 extends substantially the entire height of the sharpening section. Guide wheels having roller surfaces 22,24 are located in each of the sharpening stages 1,2. As best shown in Figure 1, the guide rollers extend above the abrasive sharpening members 26,28. Thus, as shown in Figure 10 the knife blade 30 would be placed against the respective rollers with the edge 32 disposed in the V formed by the sharpening members or pads 26,28. Figure 6 illustrates the mounting of rollers 22,24 above the abrasive contact members or sharpening pads 26,28. As shown in Figures 6 and 10 a pedestal support member 34 is formed within the sharpening section. Pedestal 34 includes support shoulders 36 and upwardly extending projection 38. A roller bearing 40 is mounted on each shoulder 36. The wheels or rollers 22,24 are held in place by cover member 42 which has a downward projection 44 extending between the roller bearing supports 40. As best shown in Figure 10 each corner of the pedestal or support member 34 has a bevel 46,48 so that the sharpening members 26,28 may rest against the respective bevel at the appropriate angle. Similarly, the inner surface of the housing includes a bevel 50,52 against which the respective sharpening member rests. The housing walls 54,56 taper outwardly to provide easy entrance for the respective knife blades into the sharpening stages 1 and 2. The lower portion of the housing includes a pair of V shaped projections or risers 58,60 against which the sharpening members 26,28 are disposed. The V shaped extensions in connection with the bevels establish the angle formed by the intersecting sharpening members. Thus, for example, a 45° angle is established by V shaped extension 58 and a 50° angle is established by V shaped extension 60. As shown in Figure 6 upper housing 14 and lower housing 16 are also held in proper position with respect to each other by means of a post 70 extending from the lower housing 16 into a corresponding hole in the upper housing 14. Figure 7 also illustrates a shift-lap engagement joint 72 at the line of connection between upper housing 14 and lower housing 16. Figure 7 further illustrates pin or extensions 44 from the cover 42 which fictionally engage in the bearing roller support 34. Figures 8-9 illustrate in greater detail the sharpening members 26,28. As shown therein each sharpening member is in the form of a comb having a pad or base portion 62,64. Base portion 64 has a plurality of fingers or teeth 66 while base portion 62 has a plurality of fingers or teeth 68. The respective fingers are dimensioned and located for being intermeshed or crossing so as to form the interdigitated assembly illustrated in Figure 9 and also illustrated in the various figures, such as Figures 1, 6, 10 and 12-14. Figure 11 illustrates the edge 32 of blade 30 resulting from the use of sharpener 10. As shown therein a compound angle of 45° and 50° results in edge 32. Advantageously, any conventional sized blade could be sharpened by sharpener 10. Figure 10, for example, illustrates a pocket knife size blade to be in the sharpening stage 1 while a much larger butcher carving knife is illustrated as being in stage 2. The guide wheel rollers 22,24 assure proper positioning of the respective blades 30 to dispose the edge in the intersection formed by the interdigitated sharpening members 26,28 which form Gothic shaped sharpening pads. As the knife blade is moved through a sharpening stage the blade first contacts one roller and then the other to always remain in contact with at least one roller during the sharpening action. Figure 12 illustrates a modified form of positioning the sharpening members. As shown therein a V shaped riser 74 is located between the intermeshed pads at the lower portion thereof. The upper portions thereof rest against bevels 76,78 and against beveled surfaces 80,82 to firmly hold the sharpening members in their proper position at their desired angle. Figure 13 illustrates a modified arrangement wherein the sharpening members 26A and 28A are concave shape forming a more Gothic shape. Figure 14 illustrates a further alternative wherein the angle formed by the intermeshed or interdigitated sharpening pads 26B and 28B is controlled by cam means so as to permit the angle to be varied. Specifically, a rotatably mounted cam 84 is shown disposed between the lower portion of the cross sharpening members. The ends of the sharpening members are urged toward each other by any suitable biasing means such as a spring 86. Bearings 88 are provided to guide the sharpening members 26B and 28B when the sharpening members are moved in accordance with the rotation of cam 84. It is to be understood that the specific details of the sharpener 10 regarding the construction of the sharpener are merely for exemplary purposes. The specifically illustrated sharpener is a manual sharpener where the sharpening members are stationarily mounted and the sharpening action takes place by guiding the knife edge across the V formed by the intersection of the intermeshed sharpening members. The sliding movement is facilitated by contacting the knife blade with the roller guides. It is to be understood that the invention may also be practiced with a motor assisted sharpener and the invention is thus not intended to be limited to a manual sharpener. It should be noted that the objects and advantages of the invention may be attained by means of any compatible combination(s) particularly pointed out in the items of the following summary of the invention and the appended claims.

Claims: An apparatus (10) for sharpening simultaneously both facets of a double faceted blade (30) comprising a housing (14, 16) having an exposed sharpening section, a first pair of rigidly supported, non-flexible abrasive coated surfaces (26, 28) having teeth (68, 66) separated by slots in said sharpening section, said surfaces (26, 28) crossing to form a rigid vertex and to set at a total included angle nominally equal to a predetermined angle intended to be the total included angle of the edge facet, with a baseline of said teeth (66, 68) being spaced from said vertex, blade guide means (22, 24) in said section to contact and align the blade (30) so that the centerline of the blade (30) established from its edge (32) to the center of its thickness at its back is positioned at or near the bisection of said included angle of said abrasive surfaces, and said guide means (22,24) including at least one rotatable member (22, 24) whereby said guide means (22, 24) guides the blade (30) as the facets are moved across said surfaces (26, 28). An apparatus (10) according to Claim 1 wherein said rotatable member (22, 24) is a section of at least one cone mounted to rotate about its central axis as a consequence of motion of the blade (30) in contact with one or more points of the arcuate surface of said cone. An apparatus (10) according to Claim 2 wherein said cone has a side taper of 2-3 degrees. An apparatus (10) according to Claim 1 wherein said rotatable member (22, 24) has an arcuate outer surface selected from the group consisting of a cone, truncated cone, and cylinder with a superimposed secondary contour thereon to angularly align the blade (30). An apparatus (10) according to Claim 1 where a mechanical means (84) is provided to alter the total included angle of said otherwise rigid abrasive surfaces (26, 28). An apparatus (10) according to Claim 1 where the lateral position of said rotatable member (22, 24) can be changed by a mechanical means to alter the distance from its surface that contacts the blade (30) to the bisection line of the included angle of said two abrasive surfaces (26, 28). An apparatus (10) according to Claim 1 including a second pair of said planar abrasive coated surfaces crossing to form a rigid vertex and to set at a slightly smaller total included angle than the said first pair. An apparatus (10) according to Claim 7 where the said rotatable member (22,24) is of a size to extend from a point near the bisection line of the included angle of said first pair of said planar abrasive coated surfaces (26, 28) to a point near the bisection line of the included angle of said second pair of said planar abrasive coated surfaces. An apparatus (10) according to Claim 8 where the said rotatable member (22, 24) is of a size equal to the distance from the bisection of the included angle of said first pair of said planar abrasive coated surfaces (26, 28) to the bisection of the included angle of the second pair of said planar abrasive coated surfaces less a distance of about 0.045 inch measured at a point approximately 0.2 inches above the vertex of the said first and second pair of abrasive coated surfaces. An apparatus (10) for sharpening simultaneously both facets of a double faceted blade (30) comprising a housing (14, 16) having an exposed sharpening section, two non-flexible abrasive coated members (26,28) in said sharpening section set at an included angle between their abrasive surfaces nominally equal to a predetermined angle intended to be the total included angle of the edge facets, each of said abrasive members (26, 28) being a single rigid comb-like structure (62, 64) having teeth (66, 68) separated by slots, said teeth (66, 68) of each member (26, 28) interdigitating with said slots of the corresponding mating member, and said crossing members (26, 28) establishing a vertex to fix rigidly the included angle between the surfaces of said members (26, 28) with a baseline of said teeth being spaced from said vertex. An apparatus (10) according to Claim 10 wherein a mechanical means (84) is included to vary the included angle between said rigid abrasive surfaces of said members (26,28). An apparatus (10) according to Claim 10 wherein the base line of said teeth (66, 68) of at least one member (26,28) is established at a distance not greater than .040 inch from the vertex created by the intersection of said abrasive coated surfaces of said members (26, 28). An apparatus (10) according to Claim 10 wherein the cross section of said abrasive coated surfaces of said members (26, 28) is non planer in a plane perpendicular to the line of the blade edge (32). An apparatus (10) according to Claim 13 wherein the cross section of said abrasive coated surfaces of said members (26A, 28A) is sufficiently concave to create a gothic arch like geometry on the facets of said blade (30) that intersect to form the edge (32). An apparatus (10) according to Claim 10 wherein a mechanical means is used to oscillate said abrasive coated members (26,28) while maintaining a consistent angular relationship of said members (26,28) at their vertex. An apparatus (10) according to Claim 10 wherein the base line of said teeth (66,68) of at least one of said abrasive coated rigid members (26,28) is established at a distance from the vertex less than the width of the facets of a blade (30) to be sharpened. An apparatus (10) according to Claim 10 including at least one rotatable guide member (22, 24) located near said crossed members (26, 28) to guide the blade (30) as the facets are moved across said abrasive coated members (26, 28). A method for sharpening both facets of a double faceted blade (10) including providing a sharpener (10) having a sharpening section with sharpening members (26, 28) formed by a pair of rigidly supported, non-flexible abrasives coated interdigitated comb-like structures (62, 64) having teeth (68, 66) forming a generally V-shape, with a baseline of said teeth (66,68) being spaced from a vertex of said V-shape and with at least one rotatable guide member (22, 24) disposed in the general location of the V-shape, placing the blade (30) against the guide member (22,24), with the cutting edge facets in the V-shape, and maintaining rolling contact between the blade (30) and guide member (22,24) while the facets are moved across the V-shape.

Inventors: FRIEL DANIEL D, FRIEL, DANIEL D.
Applicants: EDGECRAFT CORP, EDGECRAFT CORPORATION
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B24D15
IPC codes: B24B3, B24D15